WW2: Baltic Sea Soviet naval battles

Сражения ВОВ в Балтийском море

Operations during the Winter War.
Result: Soviet victory, successful support to Red Army attack on Gulf of Finland’s islands.
Soviet destroyers were active to support the soviet attack against the islands into the Gulf of Finland.
Finnish steamer Auvo (195 GTR) was captured and seized by the Soviet destroyer Grozyastchyi, with support of submarine
chaser MO-111 (Finnish source wrongly say Steregushchyi). Soviet destroyer Gordyi sunk with gunfire the Finnish
coast-guard motorboat AV-114 at Lavansaari island (4 kia) that was then took by Soviet forces.

Soviet Mine-layers operations by destroyers.
Multiple missions on late June 1941 Result: Soviet success, some losses and efforts done by Germans to clean the minefield.
Most active destroyers in such operations were: Serdityi, Stoikyi, Storozhevoyi, Silnyi, Strashnyi, Smetlivyi and Grozyashchyi.
On such missions, Storozhevoyi was torpedoed and damaged by German motor torpedo boats S-31 and S-59 but didn’t sunk and was later repaired with different bow.
Known victims on such fields were:
German motor torpedo boats S-43 and S-106 sunk (on night of 26 June).
German minesweeper M-201 (later recovered) sunk and M-23 damaged.
German auxiliary minesweeper R-205 sunk.
German auxiliary minesweeper R-203 destroyed and not recovered.

Battle of Kolka
6 July 1941 Result: Inconclusive
While the Soviet destroyer Serdityi and Silnyi were laying mines, they spotted a group of ships: the German support-ship
MRS-11/Osnabruck and the minesweepers M-31. The destroyers attacked the enemy, Silnyi received a direct hit of a shell of
105mm fired by the minesweeper M-31 causing moderate damage and a little fire (casualties were 4 killed and 7 wounded),
the unit stopped the action after having fired 33 shells of 130mm. However Serdityi kept fighting, she fired 115 shells of
130mm but without scoring hits.

Campaign of Gulf of Riga
12-16 July 1941 Result: Soviet successful delay of enemy operation
The campaign into the Gulf of Riga saw mainly actions of Soviet aircrafts, of the Soviet claims of having sunk or damaged 37 targets, the Germans confirmed the loss of 1 ship, 2 others badly damaged and 23 with moderate to light damages (an amount 27 targets hits). Even if the destruction wasn’t complete, such losses delayed the Germans operations and gave time for the Red Army to prepare the retreat. Notable destroyer actions during the campaign were: the destroyer Strashnyi did the only torpedo-launch of soviet destroyer in Baltic: she launched 2 torpedoes without result. The same Strashnyi was then damaged by mine. Destroyer Steregushchyi was more successful: it claimed 2 targets sunk and 2 damaged (old sources said 5 sunk and 2 damaged), and Germans confirms that the auxiliary minesweepers R-30 and R-31 suffered light damages due her gunfire action.

Action of 27 July 1941
Soviet destroyer Smelyi attacked and torpedoed by German motor torpedo boats S-54, S-55 and S-57.
Ship suffered 20 kia, but believed to have stuck a mine rather than a torpedo hit.
To avoid capture by enemy, Soviet motor torpedo boat TK-54 finished her with a torpedo hit.
This loss sometimes is not recognized in literature (believed to be a mine hit),
but it was truly the only Soviet destroyer fully lost by enemy surface ship action during the war.

Action of 6 August 1941
Soviet destroyers Surovyi and Statnyi opened fire against the German auxiliary minesweeper R-31, that was temporarily grounded (suffering damage), before switching target and engaging in brief skirmish a coastal battery (cache of ammunition destroyed).

Action of 21 August 1941
Result: Soviet tactical victory, strategic failure (convoy escaped).
The Soviet destroyers Artem and Surovyi intercepted and attacked a small German convoy. There was an heavy gunfire battle,
both the destroyers suffered light damages, but Artem (that had 2 wia) fired 110 shells of 102mm and Surovyi fired 145 shells
of 130mm in just half hour. It was reported that both the destroyers at least damaged two enemy merchants. Actually they’ve
attacked the gunboat SAT-1 Ost, that was escorting the ships Maggie (a steamer), Olga, six ferries and two motorboat. During
the fight the SAT-1 Ost was damaged, run aground and abandoned (she had one killed and 3 wounded) but at that point the
Soviet destroyers left.
Later the Germans will recover the gunboat. The Soviet destroyers could not exploit the victory due enemy aircrafts and the
rest of the convoy was not hit.

Bombing of Tallin
24 August 1941 Result: Soviet success
Soviet cruiser Kirov and the leader destroyer Leningrad during a bombing against German forces near Ygisu Cape, sunk
an ex-soviet captured riverine ferry used by the German as a transport for soldiers. The ferry sunk into the Estonian
river Keila. Probably was the Leningrad to sink the ferry. Unclear damage was caused to other ground targets.

27-28/Aug/42 Ju-88 shot down by Leningrad and Minsk (1 KIA, other survived) during the Tallinn Evacuation
(Additionally, a He-111 suffered damage from naval flak, but it is unclear which ship fired).

21/Sept/41 Bf-109 in bombing mission shot down by Gordyi during the Leningrad Siege (pilot WIA, recovered by German seaplane).
During the same attack, another Bf-109 in bombing mission also shot down by Gordyi (pilot recovered by German seaplane).
(Additionally, a Ju-87 "Stuka" damaged by Grozyashchiy (pilot was Squadron commander))